While players on both offense and defense for this dysfunctional team have repeatedly been asked “how it feels” to experience new levels of losing through a seven-game losing streak, Mornhinweg, the Eagles’ offensive coordinator and probably their third-most likely coach to be looking for a job in the offseason, hasn’t allowed all that to dampen his interview spirits.

For Mornhinweg’s part on the NovaCare Center coaching stage Thursday, he characterized Sunday night’s game in Dallas against the 5-6 Cowboys to be, “a great opportunity” and “quite a challenge as well.”

What isn’t for a 3-8 team that’s lost seven straight games?

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“Everybody knows what to expect here,” Mornhinweg said. “The next man to come in and play here at the same level, or even better, uh heck, there’s a great opportunity for that player.”

Amid what now seems a poisoned practice day atmosphere of resignation at One NovaCare Why?, the eternally optimistic (if not eccentric) Mornhinweg not only professes his players to be excited about a renewal of what in bygone days was a spirited rivalry between two NFC East contenders, but also thrilled to be looking ahead to all five remaining games of this spoiled season.

Spoiled? Did somebody say ...

“We certainly are in a spoiler-type role here,” Mornhinweg said Thursday. “That can be very rewarding. We’ve discussed that and it’s very rewarding that way. There are also some things that we can do as a team and as a unit offensively.”

Yeah, you know, like score more points than the other guys.

The Eagles haven’t done that since a 19-17 victory over the Super Bowl champion New York Giants Sept. 30, which was the last time the Birds played a Sunday night game. From outward appearances, at least from the crazed perspective of a Philadelphia fanbase quickly trying to forget how awful their Phillies became, those Eagles that went to 3-1 with that Giant victory were confident contenders who could only get better.

So what if their three wins over the Giants, Ravens and Browns had been by a total of four points? Hope sprung eternal, and not only from the lips of the upbeat offensive coordinator and his communication-challenged head coach.

So what happened?

“Bottom line, nobody’s making excuses,” safety Kurt Coleman said. “We have to be able to make plays and we haven’t been able to do that for X-amount of weeks. But we’re getting back to basics and we’ll continue to fight to the very end.”

Oh, what those seven straight losses have wrought. The streak has been accompanied/partially caused by a rash of injuries to key people, and with so many veteran players playing below par, the comfy NovaCare country club atmosphere seems more appropriate than ever.

But even on an Andy Reid team that over the past two seasons is 11-15, “playing the role of spoiler” still seems a foreign concept.

“It’s not so much about spoiling anything,” linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “It’s moreso about this team getting that confidence back to win.”

Ryans played for too many teams in Houston that experienced the “joy” of early elimination from the playoff race. He was asked if any games during that time fit the bill of playing spoiler.

“I think we beat the Colts one year late in the year,” Ryans said. “It was the first time in franchise history that we had beaten the Colts, so it was like a big sigh of relief to finally get that over with. But I don’t think it is more satisfying or anything to spoil (another team’s chances). It’s like, yeah, we’re spoiling, but what about making (winning) a habit for yourself? I look at that picture as being a lot bigger than being a spoiler for somebody else.

“I think there are a lot of guys upset at where we are now,” he added, “but it doesn’t matter how you feel. You have to go out and show it and do something about it on Sunday.”

Despite their standing as an NFL third-worst team (tied at 3-8 with Carolina, Cleveland and Oakland), the Eagles are middle of the pack statistically: 14th in the league in total offense, 15th in total defense.

Of course, numbers lie.

So do coaching optimists when they feel they have no other choice.

Fresh off a Monday night loss to what had been a two-win Panthers team, Mornhinweg said he was “very proud of the way that the guys battled, because they battled, battled, battled.”

What else is there for an overrated, over-injured, underachieving team to do?

This week, the Eagles will start rookies at quarterback (Nick Foles), running back (Bryce Brown) and wide receiver (Damaris Johnson). And on an offensive line almost completely blown up by injuries, they have to start guard Evan Mathis at center.

So with almost a complete set of subs on offense, and with a defense that appeared to essentially stop playing when coordinator Juan Castillo was fired and Todd Bowles, the second-most likely current coach to be canned come January, was named as his unfortunate successor two losses into this harrowing slide, the Eagles carry on.

Whether they can aspire to be spoilers or not remains to be seen.

“Anytime you line up to play this game, it’s always meant to be fun,” Ryans said. “You always want to have a good time. That’s what this game is about. So you go out there, you’re trying to beat the guy across from you. No matter what your record is, or what the other team’s record is, you’re trying to win. That’s the only thing that matters.”